Top poker pro Jason Mercier has announced he will no longer be working with top online poker brand PokerStars. The five-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner made the announcement over the weekend, stating that as his PokerStars contract expires, he will not be seeking a renewal. Mercier is married to Natasha Mercier, another poker pro, and stated that his reasons behind leaving his contract with PokerStars is due to his wife and three-month-old son.
According to Mercier, his contract was to expire by the end of last year. As his contract was coming to and end, the poker pro began to question if he wanted to continue traveling and how being on the road with a baby would be. He is even questioned if PokerStars would want him to remain with the brand and if his wife would be continuing to play the game.
Mercier went on to stated that he had 8 and a half wonderful years with PokerStars and is forever grateful that the brand took a chance on him when he was 22 years of age after just winning his first WSOP bracelet in 2009.
Mercier has no plans to stop playing the game and retire. He is simply no longer associated with PokerStars, which will allow him to choose more when he will travel to compete. This will provide him with more downtime with the family and able to play on his own time.
The news of Mercier leaving PokerStars comes just days after Vanessa Selbst, a fellow PokerStars pro, announced she was no longer going to play the game professionally. Selbst actually did decide to leave the game, choosing to retire from poker and focus on working with a hedge fund.
Several professional players still remain with PokerStars include Daniel Negreanu, Liv Boeree, Barry Greenstein and Chris Moneymaker.